Woman swims every day for husband with cancer

A woman in Cornwall has swum in the sea every day for the past year to raise awareness of cancer after her husband's diagnosis.

Ruth Hitchcock started her challenge on 9 October 2023 and has since raised almost £12,000 for charity.

Her husband Dave Hitchcock has neuroendocrine cancer, a rare cancer that starts in hormone-producing nerve cells.

Ruth said that the swimming had been good for her but the hardest part of her challenge was coping with what was happening to her husband.

Mrs Hitchcock, who was a finalist in BBC Cornwall's Make a Difference awards last month, said that swimming every day was not easy, especially during the winter months.

"To be honest, the hardest part has just been coping with what's going on with Dave," she said.

"That makes you very low in yourself so it's harder to cope with the challenge of the sea."

She said the swimming had also helped her cope with the ups and downs of her husband's treatment.

"It's helped me physically to feel fitter and given me a bit of space when I've needed to go and have a cry or just have a think and just switch my head off," she said.

Mrs Hitchcock will be celebrating the end of her challenge with an event on Gylly Beach in Falmouth at 10:00 BST on Saturday.

The funds raised from her challenge are being given to Neuroendocrine Cancer UK, who have turned it into their fundraiser for 2024.

The charity is encouraging people to get into the sea or enter cold water at the same time as Mrs Hitchcock on Saturday.

"People from all over the world are joining in, we've got people from Brazil, America, New Zealand, we'll see how many people we can get," Mrs Hitchcock said.

Follow BBC Cornwall on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].